Anxiety Aid

A novel treatment for anxiety involves a drug that patients take only before therapy appointments. To help 27 people with severe social anxiety gradually confront their fears, Boston University psychologist Stefan G. Hofmann and his colleagues repeatedly asked them to give a speech to others and watch it on video. An hour before each session's speech, the subjects took 50 milligrams of a drug called D-cycloserine or a placebo. Those on the drug had fewer anxiety symptoms. D-cycloserine, an antibiotic, does not treat anxiety; rather, it has been shown to enhance the brain's learning process—and the researchers conclude that it can boost "therapeutic learning" as well.